


Castoffs

by B_Radley



Series: Rarities [4]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Game of Thrones: Alderaan, Gen, Healing, New Paths, Playing in someone else’s sandbox but with some of my own toys, Recovery, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 16:03:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13391322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Radley/pseuds/B_Radley
Summary: Survivors come to House Organa and its other survivors.





	Castoffs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SLWalker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SLWalker/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Strays](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11901864) by [SLWalker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SLWalker/pseuds/SLWalker). 



> From a prompt for SLWalker—Ahsoka comes to Alderaan in the Game of Thrones: Alderaan ‘verse. Croft tags along.
> 
> AUTHOR’S BIG NOTE: This is a different version from the one posted on tumblr earlier, a revised story with a bit of adjustment that fits in better with the overall storyline
> 
> Author’s note: Ages for Ahsoka, Croft and Dani are adjusted to this timeline to their ages at the end of the Clone Wars. This is about 8 years before that time. Ahsoka is 17, Croft and Dani are 25, Obi-Wan is 30.
> 
> Thanks to the creator for letting me play and challenging me. All mistakes are mine, and this is not considered canon to the GofT:A ‘verse.
> 
> Enjoy. Please comment.

Maul spins as Obi-Wan is about a step slow on the block with the composite staff. Maul hears the smack of his new wooden staff on the back of the Jedi’s calf. Kenobi goes down in a heap.

Maul twirls his gift from a member of the Corellian Security Service and holds it in the ready position under his arm. His eyes take in the sight of his opponent slumped on the ground, the borrowed staff across his knees.

Maul waits patiently for his erstwhile teacher and sparring partner to rise for another round. His eyes narrow as he realizes that Obi-Wan cannot meet his eyes. Maul centers himself as he wonders if the remaining Council has decided that he is too dangerous to try and teach.

He decides to forge ahead. “Obi-Wan,” he says, his voice dry even to his own ears, “you’re usually more of a challenge.” He grins tightly. “A little bit more.”

Obi-Wan starts, then has the grace to look sheepish. “I am sorry, Lord Maul,” he says formally. He manages to rise with only a slight hitch due to his screaming calf. “I’m a bit distracted.”

Maul nods. “What is it? Anything that I can help with?”

Obi-Wan quirks a smile. “I don’t know. Perhaps you can help me hide a body.”

Maul doesn’t smile, but allows a tiny hint of amusement in his voice. “I think that the area of the sproutlings of the Wood might be good. No one will be able to explore there for quite some time. How big is the body?”

The Jedi’s blue eyes widen for half a second, but his ginger mustache twitches slightly after that half-second. “About your size. Much more hair and much more Corellian snark.”

Maul takes a deep breath as he wonders whether he should be relieved or not that he’s not the reason for Obi-Wan’s distraction. Instead, he smiles slightly. “Ah. The Corellian that you brought back briefly that helped out in the wood. He didn’t seem to say much, snark or not.”

Obi-Wan nods. “I know. He was...reserved. I only know him a bit, but Padawan Croft has a bit of a reputation for being somewhat stubborn; something his Master knew how to deal with, very effectively.”

“Yeah. She also knew how to talk to me without talking down to me.”

Maul looks up and Obi-Wan turns at the quiet voice from the entry of the salle. Maul recognizes a bit of the same drawling inflection that sometimes marks Dani’s speech, particularly when she is angry. He watches as Obi-Wan gathers himself. Maul allows him a moment as he turns his gaze full on to the new arrival.

His gaze is met with calm green eyes that examine him just as intently. Maul realizes that the Corellian has much less hair than he did the first time he had seen him. His dark and gold mixed hair is neatly and closely trimmed. Croft is dressed in only the leggings and undertunic of a Jedi, in dark blue. A leather lightsaber belt with a row of sharp teeth decorates his hips. He sees Obi-Wan’s eyes lock on the device on the opposite side from Croft’s lightsaber: A very large Corellian blaster.

“Forgive me, Padawan Croft, but I might have missed the memorandum. The one that told you could sever your Padawan braid and relax the dress code.”

Maul’s eyes widen as he notices this, as well, but doesn’t know the significance of it.

For the first time, there is a hint of a crooked grin over Croft’s features—just for an instant. “Didn’t think that I needed it anymore. Didn’t think I needed the trappings of childhood.”

Obi-Wan digests this. His eyes harden. “That’s interesting. Especially since you seem to be doing a good job of acting like a child.”

Croft’s own eyes flash with anger. For a brief moment, Maul feels a slight tremble in the Force. He realizes that neither he nor Kenobi had sensed Croft’s arrival. He turns his head to the side as a much brighter light, but one with almost as much pain intrudes into his senses. He notices a slightly smaller and younger being standing behind Croft, as if trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

He turns his concentration to the volley of words. “I knew that you had tremendous responsibilities, Master Kenobi,” Croft says. “I figured you had enough teaching responsibilities with your pet project.” At this, he looks pointedly at Maul. Maul doesn’t react, at least outwardly. Kenobi locks eyes with him, gives an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

Kenobi steps in front of Maul. “That is none of your business, Croft. Master Windu left it to me as to decide what to do with you; whether you could take the trials of Knighthood, or continue to train under me. You are making it very easy to choose.”

Croft is silent for a moment. “I don’t know if that is your decision any more, Obi-Wan,” he says quietly, but with a definite edge. “I don’t know if I owe allegiance to the Jedi any more, or its little rules. I think that I may only owe anything to the Code; to live my life by it. I may have to follow another’s lead.” He glances behind him, his eyes troubled.

“Taliesin,” Obi-Wan says softly. “What do you think you will do? We need to stick together.”

Croft looks away. Maul is struck by the sadness that flows over his features. Sadness tempered with resolve. “I have heard that Master Ti might still be alive in the Cron Drift. Just rumors, but I think that I need to check them out.”

Kenobi’s voice is gentle. “Taliesin, I have heard so many rumors about Jedi out in the galaxy. We can’t go chasing after all of them.” He looks down. “I chased them for three years,” he finishes quietly.

Croft’s anger flares, again for that brief second. Maul marvels at his shielding, if that is what it is. “I know ‘we’ can’t. ‘We’ aren’t. ‘I’ am,” he says, the sharp edge back to his voice.

Maul watches as he and Obi-Wan stare at each other, both refusing to back down. Maul hears a word in a high, very clear voice.

“ _Bait_.”

He sees a small orange hand touch Croft on his arm, as its owner steps around. A young Togruta, dressed in some sort of homespun tunic and leggings from her world, stands next to Croft. She crosses her arms over her chest, eyeing Obi-Wan calmly. Maul notices the two lightsabers at her waist, a pair of what look like Mandalorian blasters under her arms, and the confident power in her stance. He smiles slightly. Confident, with only a tiny bit of trepidation as she faces Kenobi. Maul sees another emotion flash on her open, mobile features, as well. A smirk grows as her eyes lock with Croft’s. Understanding passes between them.

The understanding of survivors. His eyes lock on the headdress of sharp teeth that adorns her forehead. Teeth very similar to those on Croft’s gunbelt.

The young girl, who looks to be in her mid-to late teens, steps away from Croft. She stands straight; Maul realizes she is taller than he thought; some might say she would look delicate. He smiles as she bows to Kenobi, slight, but correct, as if fresh from a Temple deportment class, then waits.

“Hello, Ahsoka,” Kenobi says. He looks away, as if unable to face her. She looks at hm cooly, her arms still crossed, but Maul can see her fingers twitching under her arms. She inclines her head in a bow, again.

“How are you doing, young one?” Obi-Wan asks.

“I am fine,” she says. Maul looks at Obi-Wan. Being exposed to the Jedi for the time that he had, he had come to recognize some of his emotional cues. Maul sees extreme sadness, mixed with fondness, playing over Obi-Wan’s features, before a warm smile joins them. Obi-Wan bows in return.

“I had heard there was another Padawan on Corellia. Croft wouldn’t tell me who.”

Ahsoka looks down, her eyes closing. “Yes,” she says quietly. She looks at Croft. “It wasn’t exactly true, Master Kenobi.”

Maul sees Obi-Wan blink rapidly, as if something was in his eye. “I know, little one, but we did offer you re-entry into the Order,” he says quietly. “You did defy Master Windu.”

“Yes,” she says, her calm giving way to an edge in her voice and eyes. “But I was right. Windu cost those younglings their Force connection. All because he wouldn’t listen to a sixteen year old Padawan. I was damned if I was going lose my own. That’s why I couldn’t come back.” She takes a deep breath, fighting to regain her calm.

It is a deeper voice, with a Corellian drawl, who speaks a single word.

“ _Runt_.”

Maul finds that he’s holding his breath as Obi-Wan’s expression reels from her words. He looks down. “I know, Ahsoka. You knew what would happen to those lost younglings, if they were sent to Padawan Offee in the Outer Rim, and not to Corellia. You knew that you had not been infected since you had been isolated by the Drall doctors, just like Queen Mazi did on Alderaan. It was too late to know that Barriss had been exposed by Master Luminara. She was one of the last.”

His face seems to brighten as he sees Croft move behind Tano and place his hands on her shoulders.

The young Corellian, who is maybe a half-decade younger than Obi-Wan, looks down at Ahsoka with pride. “Master Obi-Wan, I didn’t bring her here to rehash the past. I brought her here to see if you might protect her and perhaps finish her training.” He smiles, still looking down at the young woman. Maul notices he doesn’t have to look too far down. “She is argumentative, stubborn, a know-it-all who absolutely has to have the last word, but she is powerful in the Force. You, like Master Plo, did defend her to Windu.” Maul sees the powerful eyeroll from the apparently stubborn ex-Jedi.

Maul’s keen eyesight sees Croft tighten his grip on the girl’s skinny shoulders. “I don’t have the skills to train her. I can take care of myself, but I ask that you help her. For Master Plo’s sake and what she means to him, as her Finder.”

Maul realizes that tears are now flowing from the Corellian’s eyes. Ahsoka turns, protest on every centimeter of her face. Croft winks at her. She pulls him into a tight embrace.

Maul watches as Obi-Wan takes several deep breaths. Maul knows that he struggles with his own path, much less the fate of other Jedi. He has sensed that Obi-Wan is tired, that he has been lost since the Cataclysm.

“You’re right in some respects, Taliesin,” he says. “We don’t have an Order any longer. I don’t think that I can make your decisions for you. And I think that you already have proven that you have been a good teacher for Ahsoka when you were her clan-master, even if you aren’t her formal Master.”

“I think that there is only one thing that I can actually do for you, as the last of the Jedi.” Maul’s eyes widen as Kenobi draws his saber and ignites it. Maul sees Ahsoka ignite hers as well.

Croft drops to his knees without a word.

“I guess since you cut your own damned braid off, this might go quicker, if less dramatically,” Obi-Wan says as he walks slowly towards Croft.

He reaches Croft, who looks up expectantly, but without fear. Obi-Wan swings his saber and gently mock-taps on either side of Croft’s head. “By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee—“ He stops as Croft holds his hand up.

“I was born Jame _atin_ Blackthorn,” the Corellian says quietly.

Maul calls his brief study of other languages. He smiles. Mandalorian for ‘stubborn.’

Maul watches Obi-Wan pause, then nod.

“I dub thee, Jame Blackthorn, a Knight of the Jedi Order of the Galactic Republic.”

Blackthorn is barely able to stand before a predator leaps into his arms and hugs him tightly.

Obi-Wan watches with amusement. “I think that Ahsoka will have a large say in what form her training takes. She might be best served by being out in the galaxy with you, looking for other Jedi to help. The remaining healers say that both of you are cleared with the new Drall therapies—that you shouldn’t be affected by any more outbreaks. His amusement fades. “You may be the last that can be vaccinated, as difficult to manufacture and as unstable as the substance is.”

Maul watches as Obi-Wan corrals the new knight over to the corner. He is lost in thought, as he notices a growing figure standing next to him. Ahsoka Tano’s overlarge blue eyes fall on him. “Hi,” is all that she says.

He bows. “Hello. I am Maul.”

She returns his bow. “I am very pleased to meet you,” she says. “Tal says that Master Windu says that...”

“Ahsoka,” both Blackthorn and Kenobi shout, annoyance clear in both of their voices.

“I was just going to say, that he said that you were working with Master Obi-Wan,” she says with an eyeroll and an imperious tone at her elders. For a moment, Maul sees a younger Padawan, the universe stretched out before her and her bright power in the Force.

Maul releases his own breath. “That’s right, Lady Tano,” he says.

She smiles crookedly, an expression that looks vaguely familiar from another in the room. “I am not a Lady,” she says. “I’m just an ex-Jedi. One that doesn’t exactly know what the hell her path is.”

“It’s how we speak on my world, Ahsoka.”

Her eyes lock on his features. “Is Alderaan your world?”

His remaining heart clinches as he answers. “Yes. Yes it is.”

A feeling of warmth, other than for his world suddenly suffuses his entire being as a warm voice breaks in. “There is no one better to show you this beautiful world, love,” the voice says.

Maul smiles as Dani Faygan stands in the doorway. She walks in. As she passes Blackthorn, she reaches up and brings the new knight’s lips to hers. Ahsoka turns from Maul and quickly walks over to her. They pull each other into an even tighter embrace. Dani reaches up and kisses the girl on her forehead, in the center of the markings.

She holds on to Ahsoka and turns to Kenobi. “Sorry I missed the shindig, Master. But Draq’ Bel Iblis might have a different idea of how our world’s Covenant might be used.”

Jedi and Noble alike gape at her direct pronouncement; at the unfamiliar term.

Ex-Jedi is less impressed as she rolls her eyes. “Great. He’ll have an even bigger head, now.”


End file.
